Tree Supporting Utility Wires in East Lansing 5 Weeks After Storm

My friend Smitty Smith shared this picture with me back in July of a broken utility pole that snapped in the July 8th storm that blew through Greater Lansing, which seemingly did the most damage in East Lansing.

Yes, there was a lot to clean up. It's now been over five weeks since the summer storm smacked hard and this mess at the corner of Beach and Kedzie remains. Smitty says that since the storm took out the tree that snapped the utility pole, the tree has been holding up the wires.

Ironically, I just happened to get this press release in my email today from the Tree Care Industry Association:

Don't Touch Trees in Wires

Homeowners can easily become injured - often fatally - while attempting to trim trees near overhead electrical wires. Though it is tempting to try to save money with this "do-it-yourself" approach, the potential for electrocution is not worth the risk.

Terrible accidents can happen when a homeowner uses pole-mounted cutting tools and/or metal ladders when attempting to trim backyard trees and shrubs. Too often, an energized overhead wire is not noticed and is touched by pruning tools, causing injury or death.

Examples include:

A Florida resident was hospitalized after attempting to cut palm branches while standing on a ladder. One of the branches made contact with a power line and severely shocked the man. The local fire department had responded to four similar incidents during the previous year.

A homeowner climbed a ladder to trim a tree branch that was dropping leaves into his above-ground swimming pool and causing a nuisance. A branch came in contact with the power line, shocking the man with a jolt of electricity and sending him into cardiac arrest. He fell 20 feet to the ground, but was revived by medics at the scene.

One Florida man was killed and another was seriously injured after being shocked by transmission lines while trimming trees. The homeowner was cutting down a tree when it fell directly onto a transmission line. He was pronounced dead on the scene. A Good Samaritan who tried to help the victim was shocked and burned through the energized ground around the victim.

These are not freak accidents; they are preventable.

Tree limbs can conduct electricity. When trees grow near overhead electrical wires, they can contact the wires and become energized. Trees and wires are dangerous, full of electrical power that can injure or kill humans.

Here are a few tips to avoid trees in wires:

Look for power lines before pruning trees and large shrubs. If lines are anywhere near the tree, don't attempt any tree work. Professional tree climbers have the training and equipment needed to perform these tasks safely.

Never climb a tree in order to prune it. Even if the wires aren't currently touching the tree, remember that the tree's branches will shift once you begin climbing or removing limbs.

Wearing rubber-soled shoes or rubber gloves while tree pruning will not prevent a fatal shock.

Never extend long-handled saws or pruners into a tree without checking for power lines. Electricity is always trying to go somewhere, and it will easily travel through metal, water, trees, and/or the ground.